Printer stops printing about 10 to 20 mins into print

I have gotten some basic calibration prints off my R1 since getting it last week. I am still having some quality issues with the prints that require additional calibration. An issue developed this weekend, where it stops printing about 10 to 20 minutes into a print. These are small files that should only take about 25 to 40 minutes to print. It seems to get through about 15 - 30% of the print, and then it just stops mid print. The machine still has power, the hotend and bed are still at temperature. The MC software says it is connected and shows the status of printing.

I have inserted a 2GB SD card thinking that there could be something wrong in the communication between the computer and printer, but I am not sure how tell if the SD card is even being used.

Does any have any ideas about what the problem may be? Any suggestions?

 

i have had this issue before. try running the files through a program called netfabb. the program can fix models as they might be causing an issue with the slicer and an incomplete g-code is made.
Have you tried slicing through a different program? cura?

 

Have you verified that your computer does not put USB ports to sleep? I was trying to figure out the SD printing the other day but I have an LCD and not just an SD reader

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give this try today or tomorrow.

 

Thanks Mike, I haven't verified that my computer doesn't put my USB ports to sleep. That is very probable. I will validate this later tonight.

When I talked to the Robo team last week at the Maker Faire, they made it seem as simple as just plugging in the micro SD card. I realized when I tried to do this, I couldn't find any write-ups or details on how it actually works.

 

I just got my printer, and it is shutting down about 15 minutes into a print. I am on a Mac, and I don't believe it shuts down USB ports. MatterControl says it is printing and it keeps running the timer, but there clearly is no printing going on. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Are you on a Air by chance? Might be worth trying a powered USB hub without anything else connected to it. Mac users, especially on air, have remarked at communication issues without this.

 

No - I'm on an iMac (desktop) which is why I suspect the USB ports are not going to sleep mode. I am connecting directly without a hub.

 

Mac's are the exception to the hub rule, some people find it helps.

 

I'll give the hub a try

 

I can confirm that this was my problem. My Mac went to sleep after 15 min, which caused my printer to lose connection. After I turned off power saver mode when printing, I didn't have any more issues.

 

I'm on a desktop, not a laptop, so I don't think it is going into a sleep mode. Where was the setting you changed?

 

I am also on a desktop. You can change this under System Preferences / Energy Saver. I just changed my computer sleep time to 1 hr. I turned it off if my print was longer than an hour.

 

Looks like the settings change worked. I tried using my hub, but I couldn't connect to the printer through the hub.

 

Glad it is working.

 

As far as I know SD printing would require a controller ? no?

Like this one : http://www.printedsolid.com/shop/printer-parts/smart-lcd-controller-xxl/

I bought this off Jerry's suggestion here :
he gives a coupon code to get the part a little cheaper. Also there are links to the parts you may want to print to put the controller into

I bought one of these and free'd my robo from the USB port !

Greg

 

SD printing should be coming in the next revision of MatterControl. Repetier has some functionality for it, but I've never been successful at getting it to work.

The LCD is definitely the best way to print from SD at the present. I've been doing it for months ever since Repetier was giving me comm issues. Now I can print from MatterControl, but I still like the SD method.